Paring apparatus



A. L. DUNCAN 1,820,351

PARING APPARATUS Filed April 9, 1926l 2 SheetsfSheet l l Aug. 25,'1931;

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Aug 25, 1931. A. l.. DUNCAN 1,820,351

PARING APPARATUS FiledApril 9, 192e 2 sheets-sneer 2 aucun/11 '5 invegetables. V. v

t has been proposed to peel pears by us Patented Aug. 1931 I UNITI-:n.sii- Aras Anrnjm L. DUNCAN, or 'rmnxomn CALIFORNIA, l AssIGNon 4'roAci; ciusllrlmlA PATENT y OFI-ics IGLCHINES mum, OI m0, NEVADA, ACORPORATION 0l NEVADA 'Y rAimie ArrAiiA'rus I 4 Atpnmion mea Aprii a,

Y The present invention relates to aring and peeling apparatus and moreparticularly to improved apparatus f or parin fruit, such as pears,apples and the like an also for peeling machines in which 'the pearisgrotated on its longitudinal axis against a knife constructed toremove the outer surface'or -skin 10 of the fruit.- As the pear isrevolved in such cumferential cuts leaving a series of circum-v devices,the knife removes the skin inl'cirvferential ridges around the fruit,and giv- :ing the fruit an undesirable appearance.

'u This type of machine for peeling pears has ybeen discarded in thehigher gradecaimer-v 'ars aref'now.'

ies, and the higher grade led with the -skin removed y cutting thinongitudinal slices fromthe pear.V The opv goei-ation of hand peelingpears as now practiced is slow and consists in holding the pear to bepeeled in the palm of4 one hand, while em loyiiig the' other hand tomove, a spe-` cia ly constructed knife 'from end to end of the ar insuccessive strokes untilthe fpeeling is completed.. The speciallyconstructed knife consistsv of a 'strai ht or concave edge bladeprovided with a vfrom the `cutting edge. ard must be spaced from thecutting.) e ge a sucient distance to allow the lade^to reach into alldepressions or irregularities on the .surface of the pear.v vWhen so s"aced a very large' waste occurs due to the act that the ter thatautomatically follows ther contour from thecuttmg edge as in the handcutters f at `present in use. In this ywayy waste due depth of the cutis greater than is necessary v under lordii'iary conditions, theadjustment being made tomeet the extraordinary conditionsiegiuently metwith. l'

Accor ingly one of'the main ob'ects of my invention is to pare the fruitwit `a' cut- .of4 the fruit, and which, preferabl rotates rapidly sothat the 'skin is remove in comminuted condition or small pieces lbywhat isessentially a scrapingraction.' In such a cutter is is notnecessary or desirable to space` the guard e a relatively great distanceto irregularities inshape-o'f the pears which e th ard. aced Ifrhgu SPim. semi 30-100,95@

nowl occurs in the hand peeling methods' is I avoided.

K It is to be noted that pears are received' I in the canneries inbetweeir the times when diierent cropsof peaches ripen. With my` A@improved peach pitting methods and devices that have been recently'developed the amount of labor necessary to vvpeeling of\pears in rapidand eilicient man?4 ner leaving fruit of high ade/a pearanoe altlioughit'should be u n e that the apparatus is adapted to the fruitsandvegetables as wel Pears.

- It is a further object ofthe invention tol i rovide an -a aratusfor'remo the gy/cuts that iend lengthwise of gie o be pared, or bothcircumferentially `and en tia y or substantially ment-the ob'ecticnab ears peele substantially y the prior methods,` does not appeanan so.` Bythis arrangeridge, that appearsr'on @fruit peeled in accordance with-"myinven.

ein'zumferentil-ll 70 peeling of other wise, rather` than solelycircumferem' tion has substantially a shape and surface a contour of theunpeeled fruit."

Another obect of the invention is t [vide a machineeibodving a cutter wrotated at fairly hi Bodily lengthwise oft e fruit to remove relatively.tough skins froin delicate fruit with.

pearance conforming tothe originaloutsi e speed as it travels" mountedlin a cylindrical extension 17 of the of the fruit, and which includesmeans to automatically and intermittently shift the relative position ofthe fruit and cutter so that the skin will be removed rapidly andeffectively without close attention by the operator.

Still further objects of the invention will appear as the descriptionthereof proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 is a horizontal section of the preferred embodiment of myinvention.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the machine shown in Figure 1.

Figure 2a isa ldetail view of the yoke engaging the feedscrew.

Figure 3 is an end elevation looking toward the left of Figure 2. v y

, Figures 4 and 5 are detail views of my improved cutter. Y

Figure 6 is a modified form of cutter.

Figure 7 is a vertical ,cross sectional view of a modified form ofholder embodying a hand operated halving knife. v

Figure 8 is a detall showing. knife in plan.

Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the severalfigures.

On a base 10 suitable standards 11, 12 and 13 are secured. The fruit,such as a. pear, is supported in aligned holders 14 and 15 car- ;thelhalving ried by standards 12 and 13 respectively- Y Holder 14 iscarried by a sleeve 16 rotata standard: 12. older 14 comprises aconcavedheadlS, a body portion 19, which is yslidably keyed in sleeve16, and a stem 20 pro- "'vided' with a handle 20 suitably securedthereto. Holder 14 is urged toward holder 15by a coil sprin 21, but maybe drawn rearwardly against t e action of spring 21 when `1t is desiredto release the fruit. In order to maintain the fruit from rotating withrespect to the holder, a blade v22 designed to enter the blossom end ofthe fruit is provided.

Keyedto'and rotatable with sleeve 16 is a ratchet wheel 23, Ratchetwheel 23 is pro- 'vided with accylindrical extension 24, servlng as abearing for a rotatably mounted ring 25, which carries a pawl 26 urgedinto 4engagement with the teeth of ratchet 24 by a spring 27 (see Figure3). Ring /25 is provided with an arm 28 connected to an actuatingmechanism as willmore fully hereinafter appear. v

Holder 15 is provided .with a concave-head 29 and is boredlongitudinally as shown at 30 to receive the stem of the fruit. Thisholder is freelyrotatable in standard 12 and is held from endwisemovement by a bracket 12 between which and the end ofthe holder a ball'E 5' is mounted to reducethefriction between these parts when thefruitis turnedabout its .lon itudinal axis."4 Obviously, holders of diering sizes and forms maybe employed edges determine the depth of thecut. In-

stead of the straight slots shown in Figures 5 and 6 of the drawings,spiral slots or other` type of slots as at 34 (Figure 4) may be used, orwhen it is desired to take a wider cut, the cylinder may be made concaveas shown at 35 (Figure 6).

The cutter rotates about an axis which is, i

substantially at right angles to the vertical plane containing the axesof holders 14 and 15, and is moved bodily back and forth over thesurface of the fruit from end to end thereof; Between each stroke of thecutter the fruit is rotated about its longiudinal axis by the ratchet 23and pawl 26.

The machine is operatedl by a handle 36 ixedly ysecured to a gear 37 byscrews 38. Gear `,37 `turns freely on a shaft 39 held in standard-11 bya set screw 40. Gear 37 meshesk `with and drives a double gear 4,1,which in turn is secured to shaft 42, journalled in standards 11 andV 12by means of key 43. Gear 41 is provided with spur teeth44 meshing with apinion 45 which is secured to and drives shaft 46. Shaft 46 has securedtherei to or formed integrally therewith, a Vfeed screw 47 with acontinuous spiral groove 48 havin oppositely inclined sections cuttherein. he opposite end of the feed screw is journalled in standard 12as shown at 49.

Mounted for reciprocation on shaft 42 and feed screw 47 is a carriage50. To cause reciprocation of carriage 50 a yoke 51 (F1 ure 2a) providedwith a stem 52is rotatab y mounted in a bushing 53, which in turn issupportedin a bore 54 in casting 50. Set l screw 55 maintains bushing 53and yoke 51 in a posit-ion in which the yoke rldes 1n the grooves 48 ofthe feed screw. As screw 47 is H51 rotated thee yoke 51 will be movedalong groove 48 shifting the carriage 50 endwlse. When the yoke 51reachesan end of one spiral section of groove 48 it automaticallyspindle 57 fixed in'carriage 50 by a set screw 58. [A portion oftheweight of arm '56 and the parts carried thereby is supported by a{spx-ing 59 coiled around and secured to spindlem57 so that the cutterrests withtlie proper iso degree of pressure on the fruit and-may'readily follow the contour of the fruit as it moves back and forth. 1

J ournalled in carriage 50. and slidably mounted on t shaft 42 is abevel'gear 60 which is slidably keyed to shaft 42 by a long feather ishaft 66. Shaft 66 isjournalled in a yoke l 61. Gear 6() meshes with anddrives bevel pinion 62 rotatably mounted on'spindle 57. Pinion 62 isprovided with a c lindrical eX tension 63 upon which is keye va bevelgear 64 meshing with bevel pinion 65 securedto a 67 of arm56 and inacasting 68 s'ecuredtol yoke 67 b a tubular member 69 through 'which sha66 passes. Keyed tothe end of shaft 66 is a bevel gear 7 0 meshing vwithan driving a .bevel ear 71 keyed. to the spindle 72 of the cylindricalcutter 3 1. 'A plate 73 is 'secured to casting 68 and serves to housethe gears 70 and 71.

In'order' to prevent engagement of the rotating cutter with'the holder14 at the completion of a stroke and to hold it vin position atjothertimes, a table 74 is provided to receive casting 6 8. Table 74 is formedon top of' bracket -75 secured to a rod 76. Rod 76 is secured tocarriage 50 and is slidable throu h standards 12 and 13 reciprocatingWith'tev carriage. As will be readily' understood the Vcutterrises fromtable 74 tov follow the con- Y tour ofthe. fruit and rests on the tableat times when the engagement of the cutter with the fruit does not causeit to be lifted therefrom. A shield 77 for 'the rotating 'knife securedto a casting 68by collar 7 is provided.

The mechanism to intermittently turn the fruit after each cutis actuatedby a tappet 81 in the form of a threaded rod'adjustably mounted in aprojection' 82 lofthe carriage 50.

This .rod is held in adjusted position by a nut S3. yVVhenthe carriagereaches the-end of its forward stroke ta pet 81 engages the upperarmof abell cran lever l84 pivoted to the standard 12 at185. y `The other armof lever 84 is connected to vone end of a lever 86 Vbya link 87. Lever86 is pivoted between its ends to a bracket 88 secured to the franie 1.The otherend of lever 86 is pivotally connected to a link^89, which issecured to arm 28 ofring 25, the latter c arryin pawl 26v whichl engaratchet wheel 23 efore' referred to. coil. spring 90 between arm 28 anda pin 91 secured to Astandard 13 returns 'the ratchet operatingmechanism to its original condition after leach operation. As the"cutter operates on 'its return vaswell as on YVits forward stroke,means are providedv to shift the fruit after each return stroke. This iseffected by a pin 96 carried 'by table 74 and accordingly movable withcarriage 50. Pin 96 engages the lower arniv` 97 Tof bell crank lever 84,causing -angular movement of the fmaby the mammina described.

y Instead of turning'tbe fruitintermittent-f* ly, it may be turnedcontinuously at afairly high rate of speed and the rotatin cutter may bemoved lengthwise of the ruit, or `the holders maybe rotated slowly witha continuous movement, thereby vcausin the cutter to remove helicalstrips of the 's n. This form of the invention is contemplated as one ofthe preferred forms thereof. In this op'v eration it should be notedthat the movement of the cutter is both circumferential and from end toend of the fruit.

In operation `of the form -of my invention a pear, is placed betweenholders 14 and 15, the former of which is retracted by handle 20 topermit .ready insertion of the fruit. When 4handle `20 v is released theblade 22 is caused by spring 21 to 4be imbedded in the fruit therebyholding it unmovable with relation to the holders. `.The operatorthen'rotates handle 36 causing the cutter 31 to` rotate and at the sametime causing the carriage l50 to move forwardly. The cutter yieldmglyengages the fruit removing the skin thereof as it follows the contour ofthe' fruit cleaning out the depressions thoroughly. 'Uponcompletion of astroke of the Acarriage the holder shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, a fruit,such as 14 is turned by ratchet 23 to expose another portion of thefruit to the action of the cut-` ter 31. This operation is repeateduntil the 93 the sumofiwhose overall lengt -isjsu'bstantially equaltothe greatest thickness of, n

the fruit to be operated upon. During the operation of removingv theskin of the fruit blade-22 functions as does the blade 22 in Figures 1and 2. At the'completion of the paring, operation, however, the4operator elves-the .fruit while it is held between the holders by movingblade 22 through said fruit. Toeifect this result blade22is secured toarod 94 which may be flat extending through and slidablysupportedbut'not rotatable in body portion 19, stem 2 1 and handle 20', which-inthis form 'of the invention are made hollow to sup ort rod 94. A handle95 is provided on rod) fruit has been pared the o erator forces knife 22endwise through the ruit while still held 94. After the between'the cups14'a'nd 15 to separate the pulp in halves.

It will be obvious that various mechanisms may'be utilized to carry outmy improved lmethod of paring `or peeling articles.' In.-

stead of rotating-the fruit step by step, the rotation. ma be continuousin obvious manthecutters may be rotated around the fruit. My method alsomaybe carried out by hold ner, or the ruit maybe held stationary andY 95entire skin is removed. lThe operator then ing a pear or fruit to bepeeled between the Astem and blossom end and drawings. rotatingparticular details hereinbefore set forth, but' the scope thereof is tobe limited onlyby the terms of the appended claims. Accordingly, havingdescribed a preferred embodiment of my invention, what is desired to besecured by Letters Patent and claimed as new is:

cutter endwise of the fruit; and means to- 1. A- fruit paring machinecomprising means to hold the fruit; means to pare the fruit comprising arotar head 'carrying a plurality 'of cutters; an means to bo ilyrectilinearly reciprocate said head endwise of the fruit.

2.. A fruit paring machine comprising means to hold the fruit; means topare the fruit comprising a rotating cutter embodying a plurality ofcutting blades anda guar adjacent each\blade to determine the depth ofthe cut; and means to cause .relative movement between said cutter andsaid fruit in a substantially rectilinearl7 direction toward and fromthe stem of the fruit.

3. A fruit paring machine comprising fruit holders designed to receivethe blossom and stem ends ofthe fruit; means to pare the fruit;mechanism to actuate said last named means between saidholders; andmeans to intermittently rotate said holders and the fruit carriedthereby. 4. A fruit paring machine comprisin holders for the fruitdesigned to lyieldingly engage the stem and blossom ends of the fruit; aparing cutter; means to move said intermittently7 shift said holdersandthe fruit carried thereby to: expose an unpared surface of the fruitto the action of said cutter.

5. A fruit paring machine comprising holders for the fruit designedwtoyieldingly engage the stem` and .blossomends of the fruit; a paringcutter ielding mounted to swing on anaxisat rig t angles to the axis ofthe holders; means to `move said cutter endwise of the fruit; and meansto intermittently shift said holders and the fruit carried thereby toexpose an -unp ared surface of the fruit to the action of said cutter.

6. A fruit paring machine com rising` holders for the fruit designed toyie dingly engage the stem and blossom ends o the fruit; a paring cuttermounted to swing bodily about an axis at right angles tothe axis of theholders; means to cause relative endwise motion between said cutter andthe 'fruit carried by said holders; ,and means to causeuntermittentrelative angular movement between said cutter and said fruit.

` -.7. A fruity paring machine. .com risin n holders f or'the fruitdesigned to yieidinglg engage the stem and blossom ends of the fruit; aparing cutter; means to move said paring cutter endwise of the fruit;and means to intermittently shift .said Vfruit angularly with respect tosaid cutter.

holdersv for the fruit designed to yie dingly engage the ends of thefruit; a-paring cutter; means to rotate said cutter; means to move -saidcutter bodily endwise of the fruit; and means to cause intermittentrelative angular movement between said cutter and said fruit after eachoperation of the aring cutter.

9. A /frult paring mac ine comprising holders designed to yieldinglfyengage the blossom and stem ends of the ingly mountedl cutter swingingabout an vaxis lin a plane at right angles to the axis of the holders;meansto rotatesaid cutter; means movable with said cutter to support itwhen not in engagement lwith the fruit; and means to bodily reciprocatesaid cutter endwise of the fruit. i

10. A fruit paring machine comprising holders designed to yieldinglengage the blossom and stem ends of the fsiuit; a yieldyingly mountedcutter; `means to rotate said cutter; means mo .fable witho saidrotating cutter to support it when not in engagement with the fruit; andmeans to move the cutter endwise of the fruit.

11. A cutter for a fruit parin machine comprising'an open ended c lin erslotted inwardly from said open en theedges of said slots being beveledlto provide cutting i edges and edges to determine the depth of the cut.

12. A cutter as defined in claim 11 in which the cylinder is madeconcave.

13. A cutter as defined in claim 11 in which the slots are helical inform.

14. ear peeling machine comprising means to old the pearat'its stem andblossom ends, a .c lindrical paring cutter havin a plurality o? cuttingand ard edges, eac of said cutting and guar edges beingarrangedgrelativelyclose together, means to rotate said cutter about anaxis transverse to the longitudinal a'xis of said pear, and mechanism tosimultaneously reciprocatesaid cut- .ter in a straight line endwise ofsaid pear.

15. A pear elin machine comprising means to yieldlngly old a pear at itsstem and blossom ends, a/cylindrical cutter havin cutting edges and(`guard ed l arrange closel` adjacent'said cutting e ges', saidcylindrical cutter being so formed that said cylinder isl ap roximatelyngent to the pear surface at su stantially a l points, as 1t isrevolved, and .mechanism to simultaneously rotate said cutter about anaxis transverse'to thelongitudinalaxis.of said pear, and to causerelative rectilinear'motionendwise of the pear between said cutter andsaid pear.

v16. v A pear peeling machine comprising a 8. A. fruit paring machinecomprising ruit; a yieldwel rotatable cylindrical cutter havingapluralityof cutting edges extending lengthwise of the axis'of rotationof said cutter, and a plurality of guard edges arranged relatively closeto said cutting edges, means to rotate said cutter, means to cause saidcutter to move relative to the pear in strai ht lines extend,-

ing between the stem and lossom ends of the pear, and mechanism to causesaid'cutter to freely follow the contour of said pear.

17. A fruit paring machine comprising holders for the fruit desi toengage the stem and b ossom ends of the fruit, at least one of saidholders being ingly urged toward the other to grip t e fruitirrespective of its length, a cutter carriage arranged to move endwiseof the fruit, yielding arm pivotcd on said carriage for movementy aboutan axis disposed in a plane at right angles to the line of movement ofsaid carriage, a cutter shaft journalled in fsaid arm for rotation aboutan axis parallel to said irst named axis, mechanism permitting freemovement of said arm about its pivot for rotating said cutter shaft, anda cutter having a p urality ofseparately guarded cutting edges securedto said last named shaft 18. The combination dened in claim 17 in whichsaid mechanism comprises a gearA on the shaft vconstituting the armpivot, a shaft extending lengthwise of said arm and journalled therein,said last named shaft carrying a ear meshing with/said first named gearan a second gear arranged to drive said cutter shaft.

In testimony whereofl aiiix my signature.

ARTHUR L. DUNCAN.

ed and arranged yield-

